The Saborsko massacre was a war crime[1]
committed by Serb-led JNA and rebel Croatian Serbs'
militia "Militia of Republic of Serb Krajina" (from neighbouring Plaški[2]) on
October 12, 1991 in which they killed local Croats. [3]
The Saborsko massacre has been one of many massacres committed by
Serb-led JNA and rebel Croatian Serbs'
militia "Militia of Republic of Serb Krajina" during the Croatian War of
Independence.

Contents

Background

An important fact about the JNA was about its leadership, as
well as its ethnical structure of troops (army obligants, reserves,
officers). Although JNA (Yugoslav National Army) wore the name of
Yugoslavia, the ethnical structure of JNA' soldiers engaged was not
representing the ethnical structure of Yugoslavia; it had no army
obligants from Croatia and Slovenia, nor Croats from Bosnia and
Herzegovina, so the share of Serbs became extremely higher. That
was because of ending of regular one-year military service - one of
"big" classes ended its service at the end of August and the
beginning of September, and after the December of 1991, the
recruitmenet percentage from those republics sharply dropped. The
class of June had no recruits from Croatian and Slovenia at all.
The other important factors, that influenced changed army's
ethnical structure was the deserting of army during the service
(mostly non-Serb soldiers from Croatia and Croats from
Bosnia-Herzegovina), higher percentage of relieving from army
obligation (medical and other reasons) during the service (much
higher than usual) and various evading steps undertaken before the
start of military service. Additionally, reserve forces were
recruited from Serbia and Montenegro (the latter were, however,
engaged on southern Croatian battlefield). Similar was with army's
professional personnel (officers, experts, tehnicians).

The
assault

According to the census of 1991, Saborsko had 1,701 inhabitant
in 460 households. The majority were the autochthonous Croats. Local Serb paramilitaries
had started with attacks on Croat villages on October 1, 1991, with
military support of JNA forces from Knin. Among other attacks,
these forces had attacked Saborsko, a small village located some 10
kilometers northwest from Plitvička Jezera.

The assault, ICTY sources confirm, was a part of the ethnic
cleansing plan. According to that plan, "all Croats and other
non-Serbs were to be displaced from there, in order to get
ethnically clean Republic of Serbian Krajina". Ethnically cleansed
areas were used as jumpboards for the further assaults on other
areas of Croatia.

""...Thus, the threat clearly expressed in Milan Martić's
ultimatum in Kijevo was carried out in the territory of the SAO
Krajina through the commission of widespread, grave crimes. This
created an atmosphere of fear in which the further presence of
Croats and other non-Serbs in the SAO Krajina was made impossible.
The Trial Chamber has therefore concluded that the displacement of
the Croat and other non-Serb population which followed these
attacks was not merely the consequence of military action, but in
fact its primary objective....

From August 1991 and into early 1992, these combined forces
attacked several Croat-majority villages and areas, including
Hrvatska Kostajnica, Cerovljani, Hrvatska Dubica, Baćin, Saborsko,
Poljanak, Lipovača, Škabrnja and Nadin. Evidence shows the attacks
were carried out to connect Serb villages and areas across non-Serb
areas. During these attacks, the crimes of murder, destruction,
plunder, detention, torture, and cruel treatment were committed
against the non-Serb population..." [3]

On October 12, the attackers breached the defense lines of the
village of Saborsko. After that, they went from house to house and
killed peasants (in total 29 of them) that had been unable or
unwilling to abandon the village. After that, all houses were
plundered.

A Catholic church was blown up and the local graveyard was
devastated by the attackers, presumably to remove all traces of
previous Croat inhabitants.

Several of the villagers survived by sneaking three days through
the forests into Bihać in
neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina, where
they were accepted and then transferred to Croatia by buses, where
they were given shelter with other refugees in hotels.